1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of integrated circuit device assembly and inspection and in particular to systems and methods for the inspection of integrated circuit device conductive leads. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to the field of visual inspection of integrated circuit device conductive leads during the mounting thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
The increasing complexity of electronic systems along with a concomitant increase in packaging densities has resulted in an increased utilization of automated device handling. Modern robotic systems are often utilized to assemble electronic systems and bring an increased reliability to highly repetitive operations, such as integrated circuit device mounting and placement. Often an integrated circuit device is picked up by a robotic arm and placed on a circuit board to be temporarily held in place by a tacky substance, such as flux. Subsequently, a hot bar thermode, or other similar device is utilized to permanently bond the device to the circuit board.
Despite the increased efficiency and accuracy of robotic systems in placing and mounting integrated circuit devices on circuit boards, it is still necessary to inspect each integrated circuit device prior to mounting the device to ensure that the device is in a proper orientation and that all conductive leads are present and properly oriented to ensure proper conductive mounting. In the prior art this is often accomplished by utilizing optical inspection techniques prior to placing each integrated circuit device at a mounting location; however, these systems require each integrated circuit device to be moved into an inspection area, inspected, and then moved again to the mounting position.
Experience with such systems has shown that it is likely that an integrated circuit device may be damaged after inspection during the process of transporting that device to a mounting point. It should therefore be apparent that a need exists for a method and apparatus which permits an integrated circuit device to be inspected prior to mounting the device without requiring unnecessary handling of the device. One problem which must be overcome in such a system is the difficulty which is encountered in attempting to optically inspect an integrated circuit device while such a device is present within a mounting tool.